


Just a Shadow of Myself

by bumbleb_tch



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Shadow swap, Soulmate AU, and now it's four chapters and hits all sides of the lovesquare, but it got out of hand, im so tired, shadow swap soulmate au, soulmate, this was supposed to be a oneshot for my collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23424850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bumbleb_tch/pseuds/bumbleb_tch
Summary: 23:55 p.m.Five more minutes until Marinette’s 16th birthday chimed.If she was lucky enough to be the younger half of her soulmate pair then her shadow would switch with her soulmate’s until they met, and slowly fade back to her own over time. The way she figured, with all of Ladybug’s luck she would be the younger one, which meant in five minutes she’d be on the start of her journey towards her soulmate.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 114
Kudos: 678





	1. A Cat By Any Other Name

23:55 p.m.

Five more minutes until Marinette’s 16th birthday chimed. 

If she was lucky enough to be the younger half of her soulmate pair then her shadow would switch with her soulmate’s until they met, and slowly fade back to her own over time. The way she figured, with all of Ladybug’s luck she would be the younger one, which meant in five minutes she’d be on the start of her journey towards her soulmate. 

Marinette had spent a lot of time telling herself not to get too attached to any one person, specifically if that person happened to be one Adrien Agreste, her most devastatingly handsome and sweet friend. But even if she didn’t confess it aloud, she couldn’t help but hope in the dark recesses of her heart that maybe her soulmate would be him.

23:57 p.m.

To say she was anxious might be an understatement. In anticipation of this, Alya had insisted on coming over for a birthday sleepover. With the intention of staying up with her to see if her soulmate bond would appear. The girl’s steady and confident presence did wonders to soothe Marinette’s nerves as she paced back and forth across the room, regaling her latest Ladyblog theory. She hadn’t really been paying attention until Alya smacked her hands together triumphantly.

“And that’s why I think that Ladybug and Chat Noir must be soulmates. I’ve been paying attention to their shadows, we know they are probably around our age so hopefully I haven’t missed it already.”

Marinette gaped at her, her anxiety spiking at the thought of Alya over analyzing her shadow while she was Ladybug. What if she figured out her identity?  “Alya!” She objected as casually as she could, “Don’t you think that’s a little wrong to be speculating about someone else’s soulmate? Ladybug is a person too!”

Alya tilted her head and considered the idea, “You’re probably right, girl. I’m glad I have you to keep me down to earth- but if I just happen to catch something on video I can't say I'll be disappointed!”

Marinette looked back at the clock

23:59 p.m.

She squeaked, burying her face in her hands, “Tell me when it’s over!” 

“Are you sure, Marinette?” Alya asked, pulling her hands away so she could look her in the eye.

“Yes? No! I don’t know! I’m scared, Alya!” 

Alya slid down next to her and wrapped an arm around her friend, “Don’t be, this is your soulmate, everything is going to turn out all right.” 

Marinette nodded, taking a few deep breaths as they both turned their gaze to her floor, where her shadow was being cast by the light they’d set up specifically to make it as stark as possible. Midnight struck and the dark pool rippled like water, stretching and changing into a tall, lean figure, with broad shoulders and wild hair. 

Alya sucked in a breath through her teeth, “Is that-?”

“No!” Marinette yelped, yanking out the plug of the light and plunging them into darkness. It couldn’t be, it couldn’t be, it couldn’t be- They sat in silence for a few minutes, digesting the information.

“Well, it certainly  _ looked _ like cat ears and a tail.” Alya teased lightly. 

Marinette scowled, knowing her friend was just trying to boost her mood, but unwilling to laugh about her terrible luck just yet.  She wailed and threw herself back on her bed, “Alya, please! Can we do this tomorrow?” 

Alya leaned over in the now semi-darkness and flicked her forehead, “You wish, girl! We are doing this right now, tough luck!” With that said, Alya snatched the cord from Marinette’s hands and plugged the light back in. 

The sudden brightness momentarily blinded them both and they squinted til their eyes adjusted. Painted on the floor in front of Marinette was a shadow, same build as before but lacking some of the charm, particularly the ears and tail that had been immediately visible the first time.

They both gaped down at it in silence once again.

Alya tapped a finger to her lips thoughtfully, “I’ll bet he transformed back to his civilian identity."

Sputtering, Marinette flailed about, “Alya! Maybe we just imagined it, like you said, Chat Noir is probably Ladybug’s soulmate, not mine!” She winced as soon as she said it, immediately losing herself in a catastrophic spiral of oh god if she went out as Ladybug and someone caught her shadow on film, Alya would know immediately. Worse, she had to keep it together until _tomorrow_ when Alya left to allow herself to fully digest and come to terms with her soulmate's identity. 

Her soulmate.

Chat Noir, her partner, her best friend, was _her soulmate._

The idea struck a happy little fire in her gut, which Marinette pointedly chose to ignore, reminding herself not to think about it until Alya was far far away and she could properly cry to Tikki. 

Her restless mind plowed on. He would be thrilled, she was sure. And she wasn’t exactly disappointed, if her soulmate was going to be anyone but Adrien then of course Marinette would choose her chaton. But the idea was dripping over her in waves of fear and apprehension, over how things would change, of what she was losing in exchange for what she gained.

Her eyes burned.

Alya chimed back in cheerfully, “Seems like wishful thinking, Mari! We both saw what we saw, besides if it is Chat, next time he transforms, so will your shadow, just wait and see, girl.”

Marinette buried her face in a pillow and groaned.

\-----

  
  


23:58 p.m.

Chat Noir hooked his staff behind his back, tilting his head up to take in the expanse of stars spread over the Paris night. Something about sitting on a rooftop high above the city, with the wind teasing in between strands of his hair, crisp and sharp in the dark of night, made him feel free in a way that nothing else in his life could compare to.

He glanced over his shoulder at his shadow, cast along behind him, a perfect copy of himself, as usual. Chat had turned 16 with all the fanfare expected of a celebrity, a massive bash that was more about publicity for his father’s company than anything to do with celebrating him. A room full of people with himself as the centerpiece and yet he’d never felt more like a wallflower in his life.

Even more disappointing, his ever poignant bad luck had struck once again, and he’d had the misfortune of being the older half of his soulmate pair, perpetually waiting for a day with no indication of when it might strike. In his heart, Chat knew quite well that he was a hopeless romantic that spent far too much time waxing poetic. It seemed like everyone around him was so much closer to finding their soulmate than he was.

Marinette’s birthday was just about to dawn. Chat wondered if she would be luckier than him, eventually deciding that it would be too difficult for her to be unluckier than him, so she probably would get her soulmate tonight. The thought filled him with excitement for her, she was one of his best friends, the only girl in his life who could begin to hold a candle to his Lady, and she deserved all the happiness in the world.

But that thought was tinged by an offhand stain of jealousy; Chat wanted that happiness so badly, to have someone who was made to be just right for him, to support him and have his back like his Lady does, but all the time. Of course, he really hoped it would be Ladybug, but he tried to keep that voice in his head quiet. 

Chat shook his head to clear the increasing whirlwind of soulmate-centric fantasies and hauled himself to his feet, stretching out his limbs to make the short trip home. Out of habit, he glanced over his shoulder again, checking his shadow in the moonlight.

But his shadow, shaded perfectly in the silver glow, was smaller than it should’ve been, and missing his ears and tail in particular. The only truly defining feature his brain managed to register were painfully familiar twin pigtails.

Chat stumbled back as the weight of this realization hit, and stepped right off the roof, tumbling into the air. In the freefall, his traitorous heart whispered,  _ Ladybug. _ But his logical mind quickly interjected  _ Marinette _ ! 

Reflex alone kept him from becoming a stain on the pavement and he made a rather ungraceful landing on the roof of the next building over. Chat laid flat on his back, staring up at the sky and letting his body burn for just a moment. Logically, he knew it must be Marinette, and he wasn’t disappointed! 

Marinette was amazing-the first friend he made on his own, the girl who always knew just what to do to help others. Kind, beautiful, wonderfully creative and compassionate, Marinette.

But she wasn’t Ladybug, his heart hissed venomously. 

Chat was quick to push that aside, if his soulmate was Marinette then it was meant to be that way and she would be the person he needed most. That was more than he could ever want, and he knew immediately that he could love Marinette just as much as he did his Lady. 

He sprinted the rest of the way home and collapsed into bed, Plagg already snoring on the pillow next to him as he mused aloud. “What do I tell Marinette? She’ll figure out I’m Chat Noir, if she hasn’t already! Oh god, Plagg, what do I tell Ladybug? She’ll understand right? She’s not going to take my Miraculous cause I have a soulmate, right Plagg?” 

Plagg slapped him with a tiny paw, “What you do, kid, is go to sleep and deal with this tomorrow, preferably over a nice cheese platter.”

Adrien sighed heavily, fantasies of Ladybug turning out to be his soulmate alternated with nightmarish visions of her taking his Miraculous from him forever, followed by guilt that he was hoping Ladybug was his soulmate instead of Marinette, as if Marinette were not equal to her in every way. It was early in the morning before he fell into a restless sleep. 


	2. In Morning Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “With pigtails like that?” Nino laughed, “Who else could it be? Ladybug?” 
> 
> Alya popped into the screen behind him, “Who’s Ladybug?”
> 
> Nino turned and pecked his girlfriend’s cheek, aiming a teasing wink at Adrien that had him on edge for whatever terrible thing was about to drop from his mouth. “Adrien’s soulmate, if he’s lucky."

The first ray of sunlight that drifted across Adrien’s face tore him from sleep, eyes snapping wide open. He rocketed out of bed and across the room to stand in the sun and really study his shadow, twisting back and forth as if that might somehow reveal to him the most minute details of her identity. 

Her pigtails remained the only obvious feature; her clothes maybe a little bulky, some kind of pajamas, if he had to guess. Quite frankly, he could spend hours guessing what her pajamas might look like, feel like under his fingers. If it was Marinette, he wondered if she made them herself. Adrien had, at one point, heard a rumor that she’d made herself a custom Chat Noir onesie because she felt that “Chat Noir is vastly under appreciated because people have no taste and thus there is a sore lack of merchandise, so I am forced to make my own.”

The idea of Marinette thinking so highly of his alter ego stoked a gentle appreciative pleasure whenever he remembered it; Adrien really hoped that one day he would get to see the infamous pajamas. In fact, the more he thought about seeing more of Marinette, the better he liked the idea. He danced across the room and retrieved the lucky charm she’d made for him from his bedside table. 

Winding it between his fingers, he dragged a few pillows with him and sat up against one of the windows, settling in to stare at his soulmate’s shadow until Nino woke up at a “reasonable time” and he could call him. 

7:14 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** Nino

7:14 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** Nino

7:15 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** Nino

7:53 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** Nino

8:24 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** :(

9:07 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** We need to talk, it is a matter of utmost importance

10:57 a.m  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** I can’t believe you’ve abandoned me in my hour of need

10:57 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** The absolute betrayal, I thought you were my friend.

By the time 11 am rolled around, Adrien had managed to mourn the loss of his crush on Ladybug, which was made easier by the fact that he had a perfectly wonderful soulmate and also would still have Ladybug as his best friend. Usually he left the planning to his partner, but this was definitely a him problem, so he had also devoted time to thinking through everything he needed to do before revealing himself to Marinette.

Adrien would obviously need to meet with Ladybug and explain everything to her. In the light of day he wasn’t quite so worried that she would be unreasonable and take his Miraculous, although the fear hadn’t been wholly quelled. As soon as that was out of the way he could figure out how to tell Marinette. 

Which was why he needed to talk to Nino. Who still hadn’t answered his texts. 

At some point- time had gotten away from him-Plagg had risen from his own slumber, consumed an ungodly amount of camembert for his size, and taken the time to berate Adrien for being disgustingly sappy, before passing out again, this time in the sunspot with him. 

11:21 a.m.  **_DJ Homeslice:_ ** Bro pls, it’s too early for this

11:21 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** :D

11:21 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** It’s never too early for you to love me

11:22 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** Call me? I need to see your face when I tell you

11:25 a.m.  **_DJ Homeslice:_ ** Gimme a few

Adrien answered on the first ring, a wide Cheshire grin already pasted to his face. Nino groaned at the sight, “Look man if you’re about to launch into a 2 hour TED talk about Ladybug I want to support you but legally I have to tell you that Alya will be here soon and I can’t commit to that.”

He huffed dramatically, holding his hand to his forehead as if he were a gentlewoman about to collapse upon a sofa. “I can’t believe you’d choose your girlfriend over me, your best bro. Have you forgotten the ancient teachings so soon? Bros before hoes, you fool.” 

Adrien collapsed into laughter at the equally exhausted and exasperated look Nino was giving him and plowed on. “That’s not why I called you anyway. I called to show you...this.” He flipped the camera to show off his shadow, even better outlined now that the sun had risen higher in the sky. 

Nino was silent, squinting at the screen for a moment. Once he figured out what he was looking at, his eyes widened and he gaped for a moment, “Holy shit, you got your bond!”

“That’s correct! Yours truly is now in the possession of an authentic soul bond.” Adrien flipped the camera back to his face and grinned cheekily, “Now you see why it was so important!”

Nino rolled his eyes but returned the grin, “I’m stoked for you, man, this is awesome! Show me again.”

He obeyed, flipping the camera and angling it on his shadow to let Nino take in the nuances of it. A snake of anxiety curled in his gut, “It’s got to be Marinette, right?” he asked softly.

“With pigtails like that?” Nino laughed, “Who else could it be? Ladybug?” 

Alya popped into the screen behind him, “Who’s Ladybug?”

Nino turned and pecked his girlfriend’s cheek, aiming a teasing wink at Adrien that had him on edge for whatever terrible thing was about to drop from his mouth. “Adrien’s soulmate, if he’s lucky."

Alya wrapped her arms around Nino’s shoulders and giggled along with him, “Well he’s in good company! I swear Marinette’s shadow was wearing cat ears and a tail last night.” 

As usual, Adrien’s luck continued to underwhelm and he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks at the verbal confirmation that Marinette’s soulmate appeared to be Chat Noir. He managed to choke out a strangled laugh while trying to stabilize his breathing and not give himself away. “Well anyway, I’ll let you two spend some time together, talk later, bye!”

He hung up, dropping his phone and tipping his head back against the glass of the window. “Marinette,” Adrien breathed, the name feeling like a prayer or a blessing on his tongue. 

Plagg groaned a few feet away on his own pillow, “Not this again!”

The phone in his lap vibrated.

11:40 a.m.  **_DJ Homeslice:_ ** Are you good, bro? I thought you wanted to talk

11:41 a.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** I do- but I’m not sure I want Alya to know yet. I need to figure things out in my head first. 

11:47 a.m.  **_DJ Homeslice:_ ** I get you, lmk if you need anything

Replying with a kiss emoji, he swiped through his texts until he found Marinette and stared vacantly at the empty text box. Despite spending literal hours thinking about her, he still didn’t know what to say.

12:03 p.m.  **_Totally Not The LOML:_ ** Hey :) I heard from Alya that you got your soul bond. Congrats, I hope you find them soon!

12:06 p.m.  **_Everyday Ladybug is typing..._ **

\------

When Marinette dragged herself out of bed for the second time-the first being to see Alya off when she left to meet up with Nino- it was because her phone buzzed under her pillow and startled her from dozing. 

12:03 p.m.  **_Totally Not The LOML:_ ** Hey :) I heard from Alya that you got your soul bond. Congrats, I hope you find them soon!

She allowed herself a moment to freak out, internally at least, and scream about the utter irony of her long time crush congratulating her on her soul bond to someone that was certainly not him, because he’s a good friend and he is supportive and excited for her. Marinette’s eyes burned just a little.

12:06 p.m.  **_Everyday Ladybug:_ ** Thank you, Adrien :) 

12:06 p.m.  **_Everyday Ladybug:_ ** If it’s not too intrusive...do you have your soul bond already?

12:13 p.m.  **_Totally Not The LOML:_ ** I think so-but I’m not sure how to tell her

Marinette was more than a little surprised to find that the idea didn’t hurt nearly as much as she thought it would; there was no bitter tang of jealousy on her tongue. The only thing she felt was love for her friend and a desire to help him. She tipped herself back to fall into a pile of pillows, staring up at the ceiling. 

Funny how quickly her kitty had taken over her heart once she’d learned it was meant to be his.

12:18 p.m.  **_Everyday Ladybug:_ ** You should be honest with her! The only way to know for sure is to meet up and compare shadows, right? 

She glanced down at her own shadow, which somehow looked awkward and tried to imagine it with the ears and tail again. Somehow that image made Marinette’s restless heart relax, the frantic fluttering of a trapped hummingbird that had relentlessly plagued her since the night before suddenly decided to calm.

12:27 p.m.  **_Totally Not The LOML:_ ** Can’t argue with that. You always know just what to say, Marinette. 

12:32 p.m.  **_Everyday Ladybug:_ ** Anytime :D

Marinette buried her face in a pillow, making a series of exasperated noises until Tikki was giggling too loud for her to ignore. “I’m glad you’re enjoying my suffering, Tikki.” 

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki chided, patting her cheek reassuringly, “Everything is going to work out just fine. You don’t seem  _ too  _ upset anyway!” 

She rolled her eyes, pointedly ignoring Tikki’s gentle teasing. “I can’t be upset that my best friend in the world, the person I trust with my life, is my soulmate- even if he is a flirty, ridiculous tomcat who loves nothing more than to push my buttons!”

Marinette picked at a loose string on one of the pillows, uttering words without putting too much thought to them, allowing herself to verbalize things she hadn’t dared to fully think about herself. “I’ve loved him for a long time. Not exactly the way I love Adrien, but not so different from that either. I hope he will forgive me for not realizing that sooner.”

Tikki nuzzled into Marinette’s cheek comfortingly, “I don’t think Chat Noir would ever hold a grudge against you, Marinette.” 

“You’re right, Tikki. That’s not my kitty’s style at all.” Marinette giggled, a soft blush coating her cheeks just at the thought of her partner. “We have patrol together tomorrow. That’s as good a time as any, right?” She paused, “Do you think he’s figured out that I’m his soulmate? Ladybug, that is?”

“It’s hard to say, Marinette. His shadow is much more distinctive than yours, but I’m sure he’s at least hoped it’s you.” 

The idea kept a warmth brewing in her chest for hours, as if something was waking up and growing within her heart. 


	3. The Fluidity Of The Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But Tikki, what if Chat comes looking for me cause he wants to talk about his soul bond? I don’t know if I can reveal myself to him tonight, what if he’s disappointed it’s me?”
> 
> Tikki huffed, tapping Marinette’s nose, “Don’t be silly, Marinette. No one would ever be disappointed to have you as their soulmate, least of all Chat Noir-who has been in love with you for years!”
> 
> She jerked her head away, unable to meet her kwami’s eyes, “He’s been in love with Ladybug.”

Marinette was well known to not be a morning person, but it might be more accurate to say that she was just a person who preferred to never leave her bed. It didn’t help that when she had gotten up earlier in the day, she’d been forced to feign ignorance through an awkward conversation with her mother about her new soul bond. Her maman had been thrilled to see it, of course, and immediately began pressing Marinette for information about who it might be. 

She hadn’t been able to do much but grin weakly and thank whatever god was listening that her shadow wasn’t wearing ears and a tail at the time. Which looped her back to the extremely stressful issue of Alya thinking -knowing- that her soulmate was Chat Noir. Marinette would need to come up with a really really good excuse by Monday or Alya might unravel her identity, and maybe Chat’s too, if they were especially unlucky. 

And where Chat was concerned-they usually were. 

18:29 p.m.  **_Foxy Lady:_ ** How’s it going, girl? Any cat sightings?

Marinette groaned and tossed her phone across her bed.

The sky was dark when she next surfaced from her thoughts. Tikki had reminded her more than once in her soft but firm way that it was her turn for solo patrol that night, and she did need to get up and stop riding the rollercoaster of her emotions to Catastrophe Town. 

That was a paraphrase of course, Tikki had been much gentler and more eloquent. 

Still, the temptation to skip out just once and stay wrapped in a cocoon of blankets for just a little while longer was practically irresistible. “But Tikki, what if Chat comes looking for me cause he wants to talk about his soul bond? I don’t know if I can reveal myself to him tonight, what if he’s disappointed it’s me?”

Tikki huffed, tapping Marinette’s nose, “Don’t be silly, Marinette. No one would ever be disappointed to have you as their soulmate, least of all Chat Noir-who has been in love with you for years!”

She jerked her head away, unable to meet her kwami’s eyes, “He’s been in love with  _ Ladybug _ .” Marinette knew it was asinine to be jealous of herself, but she couldn’t begin to compare with Ladybug! Where Ladybug was confident and cool under pressure, Marinette was clumsy and awkward; every perfect facet of Ladybug covered a flaw behind the mask. 

“You  _ are  _ Ladybug! Even if you weren’t, Chat is your friend too, Marinette. You know him, he would never turn down his soulmate just because it wasn’t his crush. You’re not planning to reject Chat just because he isn’t Adrien, are you?” Tikki asked, eyeing her pointedly.

“Of course not!” Marinette protested, her heart clenching at the thought, “I’m just...worried I won’t live up to his expectations.”

Tikki hugged her as best she could manage, squishing her tiny head into Marinette’s cheek, “Oh, Marinette. You are  _ literally  _ his dream girl, I don’t think you could disappoint him if you tried. Have faith in your partner.”

A fresh breath entered her lungs for the first time in hours as she let herself relax and let go of her anxieties; Marinette trusted her partner with her life on the daily, why should that change now? She hauled herself to her feet and climbed onto her balcony. “You’re right, Tikki. I need to pull myself together. As soon as I finish patrol, we can figure out how to tell Chat Noir. Tikki- Spots on!”

Her transformation washed over her and she launched herself into the night, swinging from roof to roof, enjoying the adrenaline rush of falling. As Ladybug soared through the streets, she noticed light shining from the massive windows of Adrien Agreste’s room and slowed to a halt across the street, feeling a bit voyeuristic as she watched her friend inside.

The boy in question was pacing, waving his hands about every few seconds and glancing toward his bed, although she couldn’t see anyone else in the room. Ladybug figured he must be talking either through bluetooth or video, or maybe even just to himself. Either way, Adrien seemed worked up about something and her heart twinged for her friend, wanting to help him with whatever was bothering him. 

But while Chat was bold enough to make friends with civilians like Marinette, Ladybug had never had the same charisma and audacity, she was strictly business. Not that she hadn’t  _ thought  _ about talking to Adrien as Ladybug, wondering if maybe her alter ego could be more confident around him. In the end, she’d never had the courage to try, but she’d told herself it was because she was being responsible with her powers. 

So Ladybug couldn’t ask him if he was okay, but if she sprinted the rest of the way around the city, maybe Marinette could text him and help once she got home. She moved to the edge of the building, poised to jump, when her eyes drifted to his shadow, remembering that he’d told her he had a soul bond. 

Adrien’s shadow was small, a little comically disproportionate to his tall and lean frame; Ladybug wasn’t close enough to make out much detail, but she squinted until one thing became clear-pigtails. She inhaled so sharply that she choked, tripping off the roof and catching herself in midair to swing to the next building, nearly crashing into the windows in the process. 

Ladybug sprinted across Paris so quickly that nothing focused more than a blur, but it was hard to say if that was from her speed or the fact that she was lost in a trainwreck of thoughts. Though she had accepted Chat Noir as her soulmate, her traitorous heart had been attached to Adrien for so long that it immediately began whispering silken objections. 

Could he be her soulmate? Had fate gotten it wrong and mismatched souls somehow? It had never happened before, but who’s to say it couldn’t? Ladybug chastised herself quickly, it was quite a leap of faith to think fate had screwed up over something as innocuous as a pair of pigtails. Chat Noir’s ears and tail were much more damning, as it were.

It wasn’t until her feet hit her own balcony and she released her transformation that another thought hit her, nearly sending her to her knees. “Tikki?” Marinette whispered shakily, looking back across the skyline, “What if Chat...is  _ Adrien?” _

\------

  
  


21:43 p.m.  **_DJ Homeslice:_ ** Hey man, are you good? I thought you wanted to talk

21:57 p.m.  **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ ** I realized I want to spend some time thinking through some things myself first, I promise we can talk soon

22:00 p.m.  **_DJ Homeslice:_ ** Aight, bro. I’m here for you if you need anything

Adrien groaned, guilt weighing on his chest from pushing away his best friend. But he needed to figure out what to say before he next spoke to Nino, now that he and Alya both “knew” Chat Noir was Marinette’s soulmate. Yet another anxiety inducing facet of the last day.

Adrien so badly wanted to lose himself in the intoxicating delight of knowing who his soulmate is and planning out the next time he might see her, but it was a little difficult when it came with the threat of exposing his identity. He needed to talk to Marinette before another akuma attacked, or she could be publicly exposed as Chat Noir’s soulmate which would not only put her in danger, but also prevent him from being with her as Adrien. 

His stomach twisted with nerves just thinking about it. But before he could go to Marinette, Adrien had to talk to Ladybug.

In less than 24 hours

And he still had no idea what he was going to say.

_ “Hey Bugaboo, just wanted to let you know I have to reveal my identity to my soulmate otherwise things could get really out of paw!”  _ Yeah, that would go over well. She’d drop kick him off the building. Adrien’s heart rate spiked with anxiety, restlessness coursing through him and pushing him to pace his room anxiously. 

“Kid, your vibes stink worse than your week old socks, and that’s saying something.” Plagg’s nasal voice whined at him from across the room.

“Invest in a gas mask, Plagg. I don’t think they’re going to start to improve until after I talk to Ladybug.” Adrien snarked back, turning to stick his tongue out at the tiny god. 

“Weeeeell,” Plagg drawled, smug as a cat with his face buried in cream-or rather, Camembert, “If you’re in such a hurry to see her, you might like to know she just narrowly missed smashing into your window.”

Adrien’s head snapped towards his window, “She-What?” He stumbled to his feet and managed to make it to the window just in time to see a red streak disappear on the horizon. He probably wouldn’t be able to catch her if he did leave, but the temptation to try lingered behind him like a devil on his shoulder, whispering sin.

Plagg groaned, “Don’t just stand there and mope. If you're not going after her now, you’ll see your Lady tomorrow, get a snack and go to bed!”

A coal ricocheted between his ribs, hammering painfully at his heart and he turned towards Plagg, eyes wide but unseeing, “But she’s someone else’s Lady, not mine.” This revelation lodged in his heart like a knife. He’d come to terms with his feelings for Ladybug changing, but not the effect that this might have on their relationship. 

Plagg floated over to prod his cheek, his voice uncharacteristically gentle, “Ladybug is your partner-and your friend. I don’t think she will ever stop being your Lady, no matter what.”

The tightness in Adrien’s chest eased minutely, “But what will Marinette think? I don’t want her to feel like she’s second best or-”

Plagg plunked his tiny paws over Adrien’s lips, cutting him off, “I think Pigtails will understand. Don’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet.”

Adrien exhaled, feeling as if his energy were exiting his body along with his breath, “Yeah, Plagg, you’re right. I shouldn’t underestimate Marinette-or Ladybug.” He dropped his head and took a few steadying breaths before opening his eyes, only to find himself staring down at his shadow.

Still small and pigtailed, just as before, but at this exact moment whatever she was wearing was near skintight to her curves, with something perfectly round hanging from her hip.

A gasp choked him, his hands scrubbing furiously at his face until he blinked away the black spots marring his vision. But once Adrien’s eyes cleared, his shadow was just as it had been for most of the day, nondescript and pajama-clad. “Perfect-now I’m seeing things.”

Plagg had smacked him a few times while he was choking, “You’d better not die on me now, kid!” He shouted directly in his ear. 

“God, Plagg, I’m okay. Let’s just go to bed.” Adrien didn’t want to think too hard about the implications of him imagining his shadow looked like Ladybug, it wasn’t likely to help him sleep any better. He toppled into bed just in time for his phone to vibrate.

23:54 p.m.  **_Everyday Ladybug is typing..._ **

Adrien shoved his phone under his pillow and rolled over, not ready to face Marinette even virtually just yet. Mere minutes later he drifted into a less than restful sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen guys, I just really want to wallow in these kid's yearning. I love the struggle of trying to reconcile loving two people at once. 
> 
> I accidentally fucked around and wrote a fun bonus chapter about Alya and Nino(which will be posted next BEFORE the final chapter, sorry guys!)
> 
> Hope y'all liked this one! <3


	4. A Sleuth's Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She waved a dismissive hand, “If Adrien’s soulmate were Ladybug, it would be one hell of a coincidence for our two best friends to form soul bonds with superheros on the same night. 
> 
> “So what? You think there was a mix up or something?” Nino gaped at her incredulously. Alya had certainly taken him for some wild rides before but she’d never suggested something as buckwild as fate itself making a mistake. 
> 
> Alya groaned, turning towards him, “No, turtleboy, I think we got punked.” She slammed her first into her palm, “Actually, I think these dumbasses punked themselves and have no idea.”
> 
> Nino wasn’t even sure what she was talking about at this point, so he just squinted at her. “I don’t think I’m following.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know y'all are eager for me to get to the point and have them see each other (my beta is about to tear my head off about it >.>) but I couldn't resist a fun little DJWifi Sleuthing Duo figuring out their dumbass friends. 
> 
> I know I also keep upping the chapter count as things get away from me. The finale is now going to be 2 chapters and WILL be next, I promise!!!

21:43 p.m. **_DJ Homeslice:_ **Hey man, are you good? I thought you wanted to talk

21:57 p.m. **_Ladybug’s Simp:_ **I realized I want to spend some time thinking through some things myself first, I promise we can talk soon

22:00 p.m. **_DJ Homeslice:_ **Aight, bro. I’m here for you if you need anything

Nino huffed out a heavy breath, dropping his phone onto the couch next to him and half focusing his attention on Alya. His girlfriend was, as usual, ranting at light speed about something Ladybug related. His eyes followed her as she paced for a few minutes, lost in thought about Adrien and how quickly he’d shut down once Alya told them that Marinette’s soulmate was Chat Noir. 

Absentmindedly, Nino blurted aloud, “I’m worried about Adrien.”

Alya stopped in her tracks, falling silent to process what he’d said over the train of thought she was riding straight to Ladyville, Bugvania. “Why, babe? Did he say something?”

Nino flailed his hands a bit to express his exact level of bewilderment to her, “I dunno, man. He got his soul bond last night, right? That’s why he called this morning, and he seemed really hype about it until…”

“Until what?” Alya had started listening with a bemused expression, but it had swiftly shifted to curious and concerned. 

“Well I think he was hoping it was Marinette. I thought it was too, honestly! You should’ve seen it, Als.” Nino rubbed a hand over his face sheepishly, “That’s why I made the joke about Ladybug, she’s the only other person we know with pigtails like that-but it was just a joke! At least until you-”

“Told him that Marinette’s soulmate is Chat Noir. Oh shit, I’m so stupid.” Alya’s face crumpled a bit, and Nino knew she regretted making the joke. She’d already told him as much earlier, confessing they didn’t know for _sure_ that Marinette’s soulmate was Chat Noir and regardless of whether he was or not, it wasn’t her place to reveal it. 

He nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her to sprawl with him on the couch, “He dipped like you kicked his puppy. I think my dude must have really thought it was Marinette, he’d been up for hours before we talked." Nino paused, "On second thought, I’m not sure if he slept, knowing Adrien and what a hopeless sap he is about soulmates.” 

Alya giggled despite herself, before freezing and turning to grab his shoulder a little too tightly, “Wait, he got his soul bond _last night_?”

Nino winced as her nails dug into his shoulders, feeling like a bobblehead with how much he was nodding, and reached up to pry her hands away, “Yeah, he called me to show me his shadow. That’s half of why we assumed it was Marinette. Pigtails on her birthday? Who else could it be? But that seemed kinda heavy so I thought I’d soften it with a joke.” He sighed heavily, forcing out a dry chuckle, “Maybe Ladybug really is his soulmate.”

“Something tells me he wouldn’t be terribly broken up about that.” Alya tilted her head up to look at him, eyes crinkled in amusement behind her glasses, “Wouldn’t it be funny if our best friends both had superheros for soulmates?”

Nion paused to picture it, conjuring images of Adrien falling over himself to impress Ladybug with every waking moment, and Marinette’s fiery temper and sass keeping Chat on his toes at all times, just how he’d want to be. It wasn’t all that hard to picture, from what he knew of his friends and the superheros he and Alya had fought alongside. Not to mention with how much time Alya spent stalking them, he probably knew Ladybug and Chat Noir better than most people in Paris. 

Still, the idea was ridiculous and he found himself shaking with laughter, Alya soon dissolving into glee with him. “I-imagine,” she stuttered between gasps, “We have our friends over for dinner and they show up with the heroes of Paris.”

Nino shrieked, tears gathering in his eyes, when suddenly Alya went still and silent in his arms. He blinked hard, taking deep breaths to calm himself, “Babe?”

“Wait a minute,” she breathed.

He leaned back and held her in place so he could see her face, eyes staring vacantly ahead like when she was working through a particularly tricky puzzle, watching the pieces slide into place. “What?”

“Wait a damn minute.” Alya’s voice rose, steely with indignation as she snapped her head up to meet his eyes. 

Nino wondered briefly what it said about him that he couldn’t decide if the intense gleam in her eyes was more terrifying or attractive. “Uh...okay?”

She leapt to her feet, leaving him to whine and reach for her even as she resumed pacing at an even more furious rate than before. “Okay hear me out. Obviously Ladybug and Chat Noir are meant to be soulmates, right? I’ve been working on this theory for weeks. Their Miraculous are the most powerful, always activated at the same time, always used in tandem. They balance each other, creation and destruction weighed opposite on a scale. My theory is that the wielders must be soulmates in order to achieve that necessary equilibrium.” Alya’s cheeks were flushed as she spun to check if he was paying attention.

He threw his hands up in surrender, hiding a fond grin. “I know, you’ve only explained this to me 18 times.”

Her golden eyes narrowed accusingly, but she ignored him, continuing her rant. “ _But_ Marinette’s soulmate is Chat Noir. Which, if you think about it, is pretty damn weird since as far as I know she barely knows him. But even if she did know him somehow, everyone and their second cousin knows Marinette is head over heels in love with Adrien.” 

Alya paused to make eye contact with him, plowing on as soon as he nodded his understanding. “Then we must factor in Adrien’s shadow looking like Marinette, which first obviously contradicts our starting conclusion that Marinette’s soulmate is Chat Noir. Plus it is again, quite suspicious, since our sunshine boy is more obsessed with Ladybug than I am, and that’s really saying something.”

Nino frowned, struggling a little to follow where Alya was heading. “So you think Adrien’s soulmate is Ladybug?” 

She waved a dismissive hand, “If Adrien’s soulmate _were_ Ladybug, it would be one hell of a coincidence for our two best friends to form soul bonds with superheros on the same night. 

“So what? You think there was a mix up or something?” Nino gaped at her incredulously. Alya had certainly taken him for some wild rides before but she’d never suggested something as buckwild as fate itself making a mistake. 

Alya groaned, turning towards him, “No, turtleboy, I think we got punked.” She slammed her first into her palm, “Actually, I think these dumbasses punked themselves and have no idea.”

Nino wasn’t even sure what she was talking about at this point, so he just squinted at her. “I don’t think I’m following.”

Her eye roll was exasperated but very cute in his opinion. “Nino, I love you, but pay attention. She sprinted into her room and came back dragging a familiar whiteboard that her friends had affectionately titled her "Sleuthing Board". After situating it directly in front of him, she drew four circles. “Okay this,” she labeled the top left circle ‘Adrien’, “is Adrien, and he got a shadow on Marinette’s birthday that looks like Marinette. So let’s assume his soulmate is meant to be Marinette.” 

Alya connected this circle to the top right circle and labeled it ‘Marinette’. “But Marinette has a shadow that looks suspiciously like Chat Noir.” She drew a line down to the bottom right circle and labeled it ‘Chat Noir’. “But Chat Noir’s soulmate _should_ be Ladybug based on my theory-and vice versa, right?” A double line to the lower right bubble, which was promptly titled ‘Ladybug’.

She traced a line from ‘Adrien’ to ‘Ladybug’ and double lined the one from ‘Marinette’ to ‘Adrien’, “Adrien has a massive crush on Ladybug, and Marinette has a massive crush on Adrien. But if we were to assume that perhaps Adrien was wrong and his soulmate is _Ladybug_ , then we have to calculate the chances that Marinette just happens to have the same birthday as Ladybug, and just happens to have Chat Noir as her soulmate.” 

Alya paused to inhale and the truth started to dawn as she traced two new lines, one connecting Marinette and Ladybug and one connecting Adrien and Chat Noir. “Lucky for you, I’m bad at stats so I can’t calculate it exactly. But...it’s compelling.”

Nino leaned back, taking in the board and suddenly feeling as though he knew something that he shouldn’t. His voice was hoarse, scratching as it hung in the air between them. “You think it’s them.”

“I _know_ it’s them.” Alya snapped back stubbornly.

“You can’t know that!” He bit back, voice shrill, “We can’t _tell anyone.”_

She groaned and threw herself onto the couch again, sprawling across his lap to whine, “I knoooow! My life’s work, for nothing.”

“Oh Jesus, Alya.” All the tension left his body and Nino wilted into the cushions underneath him, taking in the magnitude of the information they’d discovered. “Do we even tell them we know?” 

Alya’s eyes gleamed in a way that guaranteed he was going to regret asking, and the grin that curved her lips was as sly as a fox and twice as wicked, “Not yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed this and especially my shitty doodle of Alya's sleuthing board :)


	5. Seeing Through A Mirror Blindly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But at her words, his face crumbled in on itself in distress, and her heart lurched painfully in her chest, hands reaching for him only to freeze in the air between them when Chat carefully resettled his features into a model worthy mask. “I’m sorry, Princess. I’ll tell you as soon as I can, I promise.”
> 
> She’d seen him use that trick a number of times over the years, and as impressive as it was, it was terribly frustrating that it so effectively blocked her ability to read her partner’s body language. But Marinette tossed the words around in her mind, until she realized the vital piece she’d been missing this whole time. 
> 
> Chat hadn't figured out that his soulmate was Ladybug and somehow deduced her secret identity. Chat thought his soulmate was Marinette. Clumsy, regular high school girl Marinette, who wasn’t brave enough to tell her crush she liked him, whose best friend wore a leather catsuit and had seen her through some of her worst lows on either side of the mask. 
> 
> Chat knew who she was and he’d showed up anyway. Just like he always did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, part one of the finale is finally here
> 
> Enjoy! :)

Adrien lay flat on his back, spread out like a starfish, staring up at his ceiling, which was all that he’d been able to focus on doing for longer than three minutes and forty-seven seconds(the amount of time he had spent playing Mecha Strike, which had beaten the previous record of one minute and twenty-six seconds he had spent on physics homework.) No, his brain was stuffed to bursting with anxiety and Marinette, braincells practically leaking from his ears by the second, and Adrien wasn’t sure he had enough to spare. His hand drifted blindly looking for his phone, checking the time once he found it.

Exactly ten minutes later than the last time he’d checked. Nothing like finding out who your soulmate is to take you from easygoing and patient to an impatient and inattentive mess. Adrien tugged one of his pillows over his face and screamed into it, taking the slightest relief in expelling his emotions. 

Once he fell quiet, Plagg groaned, his nasal voice already whining, “Please don’t tell me you’re about to moan about Pigtails again, my delicate constitution can only handle so much!"

Adrien lifted his head to glare across the room at the tiny god, flinging a pillow in his direction and throwing himself back down when Plagg simply phased right through it. “She’s my  _ soulmate _ , Plagg. I just want to see her and talk to her and-”

“And be absolutely disgusting saps in front of me and my camembert, yes I know. You’ve only told me twelve times in the last 3 hours.” Plagg cut him off, “The more time you spend here, the more your brain decays like an aged cheese, which while delicious for eating, is not so great for being Chat Noir, so you need to pull it together.”

Something bounced off his forehead and Adrien yelped, shooting up to scowl at his kwami sullenly. He couldn’t exactly argue. It had occurred to him that morning when he could barely manage a text conversation with Marinette that while he had adjusted to the idea of his soulmate being her, she only knew that he was Chat Noir. And he already  _ knew  _ that, but he hadn’t taken the time to consider it thoroughly, and by that he meant over-analyze and panic about. 

Adrien adored Marinette, she was one of his best friends and he thought the world of her, but he often felt as though the Marinette he knew as Adrien, was quite different than the Marinette he knew as Chat. It wasn’t that he thought she didn’t like him, but she was never  _ comfortable _ with Adrien the way she was with Chat. With Chat she was confident, her sharp tongue never hesitating to snap a witty retort to one of his jokes, so unlike how her voice softened and stumbled over words for Adrien. 

He’d indulged in a drawn out lament of her potential reactions to finding out that her demure, sheltered classmate and the flirty alley cat who hung out on her balcony were one and the same. Would Marinette start looking at Chat with the same soft but guarded expression she regarded Adrien with? An empty ache echoed in his chest at the thought of her withdrawing in on herself because of him, taking her fire and, selfish as it might be to think it, affection, with her. 

Adrien was never blessed with the casual touches that Marinette bestowed upon Chat with a careless ease. Of course, he’d never verbalized how important they were to him either-but nothing could bring him to his knees quite like her slender fingers sliding through the wild strands of his hair. 

Adrien would count himself lucky when Marinette hugged him, because aside from that, she was overly careful with how often they touched. If she regressed to that with Chat too, he would accept it without complaint, but it would crush him to know that she didn’t trust him the same.

He had mentioned this to Plagg but was met with a deadpan stare and the same response the cat seemed to be sticking to all day. The same response that the embodiment of destruction was currently mumbling around his cheese.

“Talk to Pigtails, kid. Nothing I say is gonna help.”

Adrien did have to admit that this comment was probably unusually wise of Plagg, and not simply a method of avoiding having to talk about feelings, or perhaps those just happened to overlap today. But he whined back anyway, “I can’t, Plagg! Not til after I talk to Ladybug.”

Plagg rolled onto his back midair, eyes exceptionally wide and innocent looking, which had the hair on Adrien’s neck standing on end, “ _ Technically, _ you just can’t tell her who you are until after you talk to Ladybug.” 

His jaw dropped. His mind blanking as if all his thoughts had fallen out through his mouth. 

_ Adrien  _ couldn’t talk to his soulmate cause she didn’t know him yet, but what was stopping  _ Chat Noir? _

Oh right, just the likelihood that he would deepthroat his own steel-toed boot and confess every one of his secrets as soon as she looked at him with those too big, too compassionate bluebell eyes. But he could handle it for a few minutes, right? There was time before patrol… 

Adrien met Plagg’s eyes and watched a devious grin sneak across the kwami’s face. “Now you’ve got it, let’s go see your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, Plagg!” 

Yet, anyway. 

\----

Chat landed lightly on Marinette’s balcony, suddenly second guessing his decision to come. His fist hovered just above the trapdoor in her room, poised to knock, but frozen in hesitation. He should’ve thought this through for at least a whole minute and brought flowers or something. No, instead Paris’ favourite catboy had pranced onto her balcony unannounced like a stray. 

Which is what he normally did, but still, tonight it felt like a intrusion. The trapdoor shot up suddenly and Chat stumbled back, tripping over his own tail and finding himself sprawled on the floor, staring at Marinette’s perplexed face peeking through the door’s opening. He scrambled to sit up, doing his best to seem casual. 

_ Shit.  _ He plastered the best imitation of a reassuring smile he could manage, but he knew without seeing it that it was pretty weak for someone who literally smiled and looked pretty professionally. “Um, hi?”

“Chat Noir!” Her nose scrunched up and the smile that broke over her face felt like a sunrise, stunning and full of potential as she swung open the door fully. She laughed, but it lacked the usual bell-like quality, echoing hollow in the air. “What-what are you doing here?” 

_ Double shit.  _ What  _ was _ he doing here? Chat’s curiosity had once again gotten the better of him and now he was here with no plan, just asking for a skinning. “Oh! Uh-well, you see…” A blush spread across his cheeks as he sputtered and he found himself desperately hoping that it was covered by his mask. Not that he would be so lucky. 

Marinette seemed to find it in herself to take pity on him, hauling herself out onto the balcony, and taking a seat next to him, letting her shadow stretch out next to his. “I think I can guess.” She hummed, elbowing him teasingly as they took in the silhouettes together. 

It was one thing to know that Marinette was his soulmate, but to actually see his own shadow replicated… He was suddenly grateful that he’d already tumbled to the ground and saved himself the embarrassment of going weak at the knees from the sight. The tension in the air didn’t exactly dissipate, but Chat found he could breathe normally again, letting a husky laugh roll off his tongue. 

“Yeah, I-I can’t tell you much yet, but,” he ran a hand across the back of his neck, heat lingering across his cheekbones, “I really wanted to see you.” 

She sputtered in classic Marinette style that had his heart melting into goo and threatening to take the rest of his body with it. He crossed his fingers behind his back and prayed he wouldn’t do something stupid like drown in the open lakes of her eyes until he choked on all his secrets. 

\-------

The last sixteen hours of Marinette’s life had been a roller coaster. She’d ridden out the high of the idea that Adrien might be Chat Noir just long enough to second guess herself. Even Ladybug couldn’t be that lucky. Wasn’t it far more likely that the nine time reigning champion of quickest to jump to conclusions had just once again lived up to her legacy and imagined a solution to all her problems? 

There were similarities, certainly, but there were 2 million people in Paris. It would be foolish to lose herself in a fantasy based on a momentary glimpse of a shadow that  _ might  _ have looked like her that just  _ happened  _ to belong to her longtime crush that she was working really hard to get over. Of course, that would also be one of the most humiliating realities Marinette could imagine having to live through, so it was almost a relief once she’d reached the obvious conclusion that she was once again falling victim to her own overactive imagination. 

At that point, Tikki had staged an intervention and she was forbidden from thinking about anything besides her homework. She’d been doing well too, until a too familiar thud of boots hitting her balcony jerked her from her thoughts. It was silent just long enough that Marinette had wondered if she’d imagined it, much like other things in recent history, and she’d popped her head up to peek through the trapdoor.

Meeting Chat’s eyes, it was like being possessed. There were few things as reassuring and familiar as her partner's face, and any tension she’d been carrying evaporated, replaced by the easy comfort of being by his side. Marinette never felt safer or more confident than when she had her kitty nearby to watch her back.

So now she was here, sitting side by side with her soulmate, and starting to wonder how she’d ever doubted it in the first place when just being close to him had always made her feel like this if only she hadn’t been too stupid to notice.  All she was left wondering was, how had he ended up here? How had he managed to figure her out?

His laugh sent a shiver down her spine, “Yeah, I-I can’t tell you much yet, but...I really wanted to see you.”

Panic flooded Marinette’s body as she tuned back in, every limb freezing, perfectly unresponsive, and for a moment she wondered if she was having a stroke. Or maybe this was an elaborate anxiety fantasy and she was still lying in her bed having a meltdown like a toddler. But as she tried and failed to form words, she became more and more intensely aware that this was, in fact, real, and she was, in fact, making a spectacular fool of herself. 

Marinette sucked a breath between her teeth, wheezing softly, “B-but how did you know it was me?”

Chat had tilted his head to watch the entirety of her flailing episode, his expression the kind of amused and dare she even think it, adoring, look that he usually saved for Ladybug. It didn’t soothe her in the slightest. 

But at her words, his face crumbled in on itself in distress, and her heart lurched painfully in her chest, hands reaching for him only to freeze in the air between them when Chat carefully resettled his features into a model worthy mask. “I’m sorry, Princess. I’ll tell you as soon as I can, I promise.”

She’d seen him use that trick a number of times over the years, and as impressive as it was, it was terribly frustrating that it so effectively blocked her ability to read her partner’s body language. But Marinette tossed the words around in her mind, until she realized the vital piece she’d been missing this whole time. 

Chat hadn't figured out that his soulmate was Ladybug and somehow deduced her secret identity. Chat thought his soulmate was  _ Marinette.  _ Clumsy, regular high school girl Marinette, who wasn’t brave enough to tell her crush she liked him, whose best friend wore a leather catsuit and had seen her through some of her worst lows on either side of the mask. 

Chat knew who she was and he’d showed up anyway. Just like he always did. 

God, she was so stupid. She’d wasted so much time being caught up in the cotton candy daydream that was her first love, overpowering and making her blind to anything else. But now, with his gaze weighing heavy like a brand, Marinette realized that at some point, her silly kitty had managed to hollow out a home for himself within her heart and filled it to the brim. 

And it didn’t matter who was behind his mask, it could be Adrien Agreste himself, and she would still take it in stride. Chat had shown up for her, how could even think of doing anything but the same for him. 

Drawing her knees close to her chest, Marinette surprised herself with how steady and unbothered her voice was, “You have to talk to Ladybug first, right?” It was phrased like a question, but they both already knew the answer. 

The silence stretched, but it was not uncomfortable. Still, some greedy and prideful part of her pushed her to voice unspoken words that hung heavy between them. “So you’re not, um, disappointed?”

A solid thirty seconds passed before Chat managed to register what she was trying to say. “What? Disappointed? Why-because you’re not Ladybug?” 

Her cheeks were aflame, half with shame at probing his feelings while he didn’t know all of her just yet, and half with embarrassment at having outed her own insecurities. “I know it’s kinda stupid to be comparing myself to her but,” Marinette met his eyes, her voice soft, “I know how you feel about her. That’s hard to let go of.” 

Chat smiled, a genuine, if slightly teasing, lilt to his voice that masked the obvious distress in his eyes. “Are you speaking from experience, Princess? Don’t think I’ve forgotten about your crush on me, however fleeting it may have been.” He threw a dramatic hand up to rest on his forehead, giving off the air of a heartbroken gentlewoman abandoned by man she loved. 

He broke the spell himself by peeking one eye open, an entirely too smug grin curving his lips to show off delicately sharp fangs. Marinette nearly gasped at the sudden barrage of thoughts about just exactly where he could sink those teeth, but pulled herself back to reality just in time to hear him practically growl off his silver tongue.

“Or purrhaps, not so fleeting after all, hmm?” Chat punctuated this infuriating statement with an obscene eyebrow wiggle.

Marinette shrieked as though she’d been burned and shoved him away, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll quit while you’re behind, tomcat!” But she couldn’t help the giggles slipping past her lips as she watched him rock back and laugh. 

Chat laughed like a child, long and loud, cackling with unrestrained glee. She’d long thought that the sight deserved to be recorded in a museum for all of time, and she’d long envied her partner his ability to experience such radiant joy. But in this moment, watching Chat-not her partner but her soulmate- Marinette realized that he was beautiful.

Obviously she knew Chat was attractive, she wasn’t quite so blind as to not be able to appreciate his sharp jawline and high, aristocratic cheekbones, not to mention the physique that only being a teen superhero could give. Chat had always been attractive, but today, he was bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, free and wild and everything that she was hesitant to let herself be.

Chat hauled himself to his feet, sweeping into a low bow in front of her, his eyes twin emeralds gazing through thick lashes and straight into her soul as his clawed fingers teased one of her hands free. “I hate to abandon my beautiful soulmate but if I don’t go then Ladybug is going to skin this cat at least twice.”

His grin was cheeky and he dropped his gaze to ghost a feather light kiss across the back of her hand. Something that had happened too many times to count, was suddenly as foreign as it was familiar.

Her heart had never fluttered like a caged bird desperate to be free. Her fingers had never twitched and stung with the desire to cup his cheeks and drink him in. She’d never been brave enough to be reckless. 

Marinette sent a silent prayer to any god that was listening that she didn’t look as obviously destroyed by his every move as she actually was and before she could lose her nerve, slid her hand up to grasp his wrist. Their eyes met and Chat’s lips parted in a gasp too soft to hear over the roar of her own pulse in her ears. 

With a swift tug, Chat tumbled closer and Marinette crashed her lips into his. Her heart burst into song, fireworks spiraling through her veins only to be chased by a thick, heady cloud of bliss as their mouths slanted together, chapped but hesitantly bold. One of them whimpered, the cry swallowed between their lips, and Marinette struggled not to sob desperately as she tore away before she did something stupid. 

She wished she was brave enough to be stupid. 

They panted in sync, cheeks sporting matching stains; Marinette wondered if her own lips were swollen and pink and begging to be devoured again like Chat’s were. 

His eyes, dark with something she couldn’t quite name, peered back at her, “I-I um, I have to go but-” Chat inhaled sharply, reaching out to cup her chin and drag his thumb across her cheek bone. “Don’t ever think you’re anything less than amazing, Marinette. I could never be disappointed to have my Everyday Ladybug as my soulmate.” 

Marinette nodded dumbly, her cheek suddenly cold as his hand dropped away and he leapt onto her balcony railing, a soft smile playing across his lips before he vaulted off into the Parisian skyline. 

An indeterminate amount of time was lost as she stared into the sunset that had swallowed Chat, until she became aware of Tikki patting her face gently. “Marinette, you’re going to be late!” 

“Oh my god. Oh  _ shit.”  _ Her eyes struggled for a moment to focus on her kwami as she resurfaced from the haze that had settled over her mind. “Tikki. He-he called me his  _ Everyday Ladybug. _ ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, all right! We got a kiss AND an actual partial reveal-Marinette really has to swallow this pill quick while she heads to meet with Chat in the next chapter. We are so close to the end, hang in there! 
> 
> Also, I'm still looking for beta readers to help me out with sound boarding and editing, please let me know if you're interested!


	6. Any Ending Is A New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat blinked, her words echoing in his mind.
> 
> “Do you want to tell her who you are?”
> 
> And the answer was yes, a screaming vibrato racing up the vertebrae in his spine, singing with desperation to be with his soulmate like he’d dreamed about for years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm the worst and I keep forgetting to credit my spectacular beta Papillon10 who is fantastic and wonderful and puts up with my wild bullshit and I'm so grateful for her.
> 
> Second, it's finally here guys we are officially at the end and I can move on to something else >.<

To say Marinette was panicking could be considered something of an understatement. To say that her brain was moving so fast she was worried it might catch fire and her heart was pounding like it had taken life anew, separate from her, and was struggling to break free of its cage might be a bit more accurate. 

Tikki had convinced her to transform before they were so late Chat started calling, but her mask did not give her the stability and confidence it usually did. Rather, she felt like the first time she’d worn it - clumsy, anxious, and very much like a child playing superhero. But all she could think about was blonde hair, and green eyes, and leather ears, and black umbrellas, as the ideas she had in her mind of Chat and Adrien began to blend.

Marinette wasn’t stupid, and once she could really see it, she couldn’t unsee it. She long understood that where her mask was a burden of responsibility, Chat’s was a ticket to freedom, but now she knew why. Adrien’s gentle hesitance and consideration that she so loved were half of what made him so perfectly suited to the Black Cat Miraculous. 

The other half was the freedom it gave him to be himself, no matter how outlandish or unseemly it might be in his daily life. Chat Noir was so open and honest he was practically transparent.

And then her brain screeched to a halt.

If Adrien was Chat who was her soulmate then not only did she have to stomach Chat lording their soulmate bond over her for the rest of her life, but also the utterly humiliating reality that she was going to have to confess that the reason she’d wasted 3 years turning him down was because she’d had the biggest, stupidest crush on him the entire time. 

(The fact that the reason Adrien had never noticed her was because he was too busy being infatuated with Ladybug softened the blow, but only just.)

Her eyes caught on Chat’s figure in the distance as she approached their agreed meeting place and she missed her next swing, nearly crashing face first into a wall like an uncoordinated moron. Marinette righted herself and huffed, closing her eyes to take a deep breath and manually apply her (emotional) Ladybug armor. 

Once her heart rate subsided, Ladybug opened her eyes and launched herself across the last few rooftops between her and her partner. Chat was sitting on the opposite edge facing the sunset on the horizon, with his back to her. His shadow stretched out behind him, undeniably her, and though she’d just seen it, the sight thrilled her, edged with pride and a tiny bit of possessiveness. 

She considered allowing a moment to savor it, but decided not to risk Chat turning around and catching a glimpse of her shadow before she was quite ready. Padding across the roof near silently, Ladybug slid onto the edge of the roof alongside him, dangling her legs over the side. 

Chat hummed as she sat down, but seemed lost in his thoughts, a vacant and -in her unreliable opinion- lovesick expression fixed on his face. She fought back a groan, wondering if that was how she’d looked just a few minutes earlier, as she leaned into her partner’s shoulder. 

The silence stretched, but it wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable. This was far from the first time they’d both been lost in their own struggles, taking solace in each other’s company when they couldn’t put words to their emotions. So Ladybug allowed herself a tumble into the security of having her partner by her side and how incredibly lucky she’d turned out to be after all. She no longer had to worry about reconciling her not exactly dormant feelings for Adrien with the growing attachment to Chat and her soulbond.

Because Adrien was  _ right there,  _ he loved  _ all of her _ , and honestly if her brain didn’t explode her heart might just stop because she was living a dream she hadn’t even considered but now couldn’t imagine having it any other way. Quite honestly, she wasn’t sure when the last time was that she had felt like things were going to work out, and not just okay, but spectacularly. 

Now that she’d effectively dispelled her anxiety, she knew she should tell him the truth and spare them both the awkwardness, but her pride was feeling indignant about his blatant audacity in practically revealing his identity to her. Petty as it might be, she wanted to watch him squirm a little. Distantly, she registered a stiffening of his shoulders and an inhale of breath as though Chat had decided to speak.

But when he didn’t, Ladybug opted to break the silence herself. “ _ Feline  _ all right there, Chaton? You’re  _ pawfully  _ quiet today,” she asked, elbowing him gently, just as she had on her balcony only a few minutes earlier-and if she was laying it on thick it had nothing to do with the fact that she knew he was her soulmate and long time crush. 

His laugh was genuine, if a little strained, but she didn’t need to see him to know he was smiling when he replied, “I’m all right, LB. Just gathering my thoughts, I...I need to talk to you.” 

“Aren’t we already talking?” Ladybug prodded, just to antagonize him. Normally, if he’d said something like that, her veins would flood with anxiety, running through every vague possibility of what might be wrong. But knowing what his problem was before he said it and already having the solution had a tendency to give one an almost supernatural level of serenity, as it turned out. 

Chat sighed-extra heavily so she could feel it, the drama queen, “Do you have your soul bond, Mi’lady?”

“I do.” Choking back the laugh that bubbled in her throat, Ladybug kept her voice as intentionally neutral as she could, wanting to wait for the right moment, just to tease him for being so cheeky earlier. “I haven’t had it very long. It...surprised me.” She sat upright to get a glimpse of his face, “Do you have yours?”

His expression was painfully blank, like a marble statue with exquisite detail, but lacking any life, and she knew what he was thinking. Something in her gut twisted, and her mouth opened to spill her secrets in a river flooding to destroy its dam, but before her eager tongue could confess her sins, Chat spoke.

“M-me too.” His voice wavered a little, but was mostly good humored, if a little sheepish, “But she, uh, she already knows I’m Chat Noir.” 

Ladybug laughed, poking him just a little more, “Your shadow isn’t exactly subtle, huh Minou?”

“No kidding,” Chat groaned, ducking his head and rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.

She quieted and reached for his hand, tucking her fingers between his- totally imagining that the touch sent shockwaves of delight through her entire body. Keeping her voice serious and even, she asked tentatively, “Do you want to tell her who you are?”

\------

Chat blinked, her words echoing in his mind.

_ “Do you want to tell her who you are?” _

And the answer was yes, a screaming vibrato racing up the vertebrae in his spine, singing with desperation to be with his soulmate like he’d dreamed about for years. But instead, he jumped to defend Marinette before Ladybug could think of shutting him down. “I would, Mi’lady. She’s one of my best friends, and she’s amazing. I know we can trust her. And if I don’t tell her, then-”

As if she knew he’d let his mouth run away with him like a loose train, she cut him off, her voice soft and almost a little pained, “You could only be with her as Chat Noir-I would never force you to live a life like that, Chaton!” Ladybug seemed almost sick at the idea as she clutched his hand, warmth spreading up his arm, “Of course you should tell her!” 

“Have you told your soulmate?” Chat kept his eyes down, not ready to watch her talk about her soulmate, who was not him, and that was okay, cause he was falling in love with Marinette by the second; but it still  _ stung.  _

Ladybug hummed, “Not yet, but soon, I hope.” She didn’t elaborate.

He wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or not. 

Letting silence fall again, Chat mulled over the thought that had been panging in his chest since she’d arrived and trying to convince himself he was brave enough to ask and risk being turned down yet again. “Y’know, I’d always hoped you’d be the first person I revealed myself to.”

Normally, this would be the point at which she might groan and remind him their identities needed to remain secret-safety of Paris, not to mention the world, at stake-he’d heard it too many times to count. 

Instead, she tilted her head back to smile up at him, soft but cryptic and full of secrets. “Well, you’ve got a Ladybug beside you, so maybe it’s your lucky day.”

Chat’s breath stuttered and he felt as though he could see some truth of the universe, lost to the ages, hidden in the abyss of her eyes, but he couldn’t understand it. He squinted at her, “How do you mean?” 

She just smiled, the glow in her cheeks betraying some depth of emotion she wasn’t sharing as her fingers brushed his jaw, sliding to cup his cheek in her palm. His entire body trembled at her touch, Chat couldn’t tear his gaze from hers, feeling as though he were falling under some sort of spell, powerless to even react to what was happening. Ladybug gently twisted his head to look behind them. 

There, framed by the dusky light of the setting sun, were two shadows in sharp relief.

The one he’d been agonizing over for days, slight and pigtailed.

And by her side, a taller, lean and most importantly, cat-eared figure with a silhouette that was truly unmistakable- and not just because he was used to seeing it every day.

Chat flicked his gaze to Ladybug, her face serene and maybe even a little smug, then back to the shadows. His brain was blaring alarms in a void empty of thought as he struggled to reconcile the contradictory information. A high pitched whine hissed between his teeth. “Marinette.”

“Adrien.” The reply was immediate, without a note of hesitation or uncertainty.

It was like the time he’d accidentally scared Officer Raincomprix and gotten himself tasered for his trouble, the shock radiating through every nerve in his body. Chat jumped so hard he toppled off the edge of the roof, a moment from free-falling when Ladybug’s hand wrapped around his wrist. In one smooth movement she hauled him back up and he crashed into her, rolling onto the roof tangled together, nearly impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. 

Her laughter echoed in his ears like a melody, beckoning glee from his own lips, time lost in the space between them. When she finally managed to speak between her giggles, her words were like a blow. “We’ve been very silly, Chaton. See, I’ve been rejecting you for so long, because I had the worst crush on this guy who sits in front of me in class.”

Jealousy spiked in his blood, burning with an acid bite he wasn’t sure he’d ever experienced before, only to be smothered to ash once he put the pieces together enough to realize that the guy in question was  _ him. _ But his Lady, his Princess, his Marinette, was still rambling away in that wonderful tangled pattern of hers.

“He’s never noticed me though, because it turns out he has a very embarrassing crush on a superhero. Just your kind of luck,” she prodded his nose, winking when he aimed her a dirty look. 

“You’re one to talk! I’ve heard your soulmate is a superhero  _ and  _ a model. Too good for a simple peasant, Ladybug?” The grin spreading across his face was more Chat than Adrien, and he reached up to run his thumb across the growing blush of indignance spreading beneath her mask. “As a matter of fact, I think this is your kind of luck,” He leaned down to press his forehead to hers, their lips separated by mere inches that felt like miles. “I got lucky enough to fall in love with you twice.”

Her eyes widened, and then her lips were smashing into his own, desperate and hungry and melting him under their oppressive touch. His senses muddled together in a blend of teeth and tongues and hands; she was all he could taste, all he could smell. He tore away to suck in starving, ragged breaths, taking in the havoc their actions had wreaked on his partner. 

Ladybug’s hair was tumbling loose from her pigtails, eyes dark, hooded, and most tempting of all, her lower lip was swollen where one of his teeth had snagged it, just begging to be kissed again. He could see her. All of her. Marinette in every akuma battle, every patrol, every late night rooftop conversation that got a little too intimate, and Ladybug in every class, every trip to the movies, every time he needed a friend. 

It was always her.

His claws scrabbled gently at the edge of her mask as he begged, words failing him, but desperate to see it for himself. To see his Lady become his Marinette. His helpless stuttering only managed to produce a strangled, “Please?”

But Marinette, his other half, understood him perfectly, and the smile that spread across her face was like the sun rising to dispel the shadows that had hung over him his entire life. It was like home. Her voice, scratchy and breathless, dispelled the transformation and he squinted into the glow until her features became clear. 

Clawed fingers buried themselves in her hair as he tugged her back up to kiss her again, a much softer brushing of lips, cherishing the moment and their bond. It grew damp and salty, but whether with his tears or hers, it was hard to tell as their emotions crashed around them in almost physical waves until they collapsed in each other's arms, spent of energy and unsure if they were laughing or crying. 

Adrien had dropped his own transformation sometime in the elapsing time, but Marinette had destroyed any order his hair might have retained, so he imagined he looked much more like his alter ego than usual. He buried his nose in her neck and wallowed in the essence of  _ her, _ savoring the gentle rhythm of her fingers carding through the strands of his hair. 

And then he was flying through the air to land a few feet away.

Hard.

Marinette was standing, hands clutching her pigtails and eyes wide with distress as he blinked up at her in confusion.

“Adrien!” She shrieked, “What are we going to tell Alya?” 

He choked on his own spit, suddenly very aware of his own best friend’s existence as aforementioned  _ reporter’s boyfriend,  _ “Oh fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last serious chapter, the next one is just a little after story shenanigans thing, but I hope y'all enjoyed the reveal :D


	7. Great Minds Think Alike, But Fools Rarely Differ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise shot through him that Alya had gotten close to his identity and he’d had no idea. “Did she really?”
> 
> A furious blush rose on Marinette’s cheeks and she ducked her head to the side, mumbling, “I’m pretty sure the only reason she stopped was cause I kept insisting you were way hotter than Chat Noir.”
> 
> He let the silence draw out just long enough that she started to squirm. “First of all- Chat Noir is way hotter than Adrien Agreste.” A sharp scream later, a pillow collided with his face and he cackled into the fabric

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thank you thank you to my wonderful beta Papillon10 :D
> 
> This is IT IT guys, we are officially done

Adrien was sprawled with his head in Marinette’s lap, troubleshooting how to successfully convince Alya and Nino that they were definitely not Ladybug and Chat Noir because that would be totally crazy and not at all possible. His eyes were nearly shut, a purr rumbling in his chest in time with Marinette’s hands scratching at the base of his scalp. 

“Mmm,” he tilted his head, angling her fingers to the right spots, “Oh-oh, okay, what if I’m-right there, yessss-I’m into Chat Noir cosplay?”

Marinette snorted, rolling her eyes at him, which was frankly a little offensive since she was doing a lot of shooting down his ideas and not suggesting any herself. He said as much and she replied by sticking her tongue out at him. “It’s a genius plan...except for the fact that Alya would 100% make you prove it and then you’d absolutely blow our cover. She’d take one look at you and it would be over.”

Adrien sulked-perhaps a bit dramatically- “I could sell it.”

“Maybe, if it was anyone else.” She winked, tapping his nose, “But Alya’s suspected you more than once already and if she sees you in the suit you’ll never convince her.”

Surprise shot through him that Alya had gotten close to his identity and he’d had no idea. “Did she really?”

A furious blush rose on Marinette’s cheeks and she ducked her head to the side, mumbling, “I’m pretty sure the only reason she stopped was cause I kept insisting you were way hotter than Chat Noir.”

He let the silence draw out just long enough that she started to squirm. “First of all- Chat Noir is  _ way  _ hotter than Adrien Agreste.” A sharp scream later, a pillow collided with his face and he cackled into the fabric, peeking around the edge to watch his -amazingwonderfuleverythinghecouldhaveeverwantedinhisotherhalf- soulmate stomp back and forth, cursing his existence. 

“Okay okay, hear me out, I’ve got it.” Marinette turned to squint suspiciously at him and Adrien toppled onto his back, hands waving in the air as he spoke, “We tell her I’m a furry.” 

“We  _ WHAT?” _

“Listen!” Adrien interjected before she could start kicking him, “It’s simple! She’ll never ask any questions cause she definitely doesn’t want to know and-”

“Adrien!” Marinette wailed, stomping her foot and squaring her hands on her hips to glare down at him in peak Ladybug scolding. 

But he’d never learned his lesson before so why start now? A sly grin spread across his face, “What? Are you ashamed to be seen kissing a catboy in public? Cause I have some bad news, Mi’la-” 

Another pillow hit his face, muffling his laughter.

  
  


\-------

  
  


Alya pressed her pillow to her mouth and screamed.

“Woah! Little warning next time, babe.” Nino yelped from her phone, having answered the call to the cacophony.

She aimed a ‘not now, Nino, can’t you see that my life is a joke’ kind of glare in his direction. “Nino. Can you  _ believe  _ that your  _ IDIOT  _ of a best friend, looked me In. My. Eyes. and  _ told me he was a furry.”  _

Nino chuckled, mumbling, “But technically, is he wrong?” 

Alya ignored him, pointedly. “And then  _ my  _ idiot best friend stood there and  _ backed him up _ ! Who do they think I am?  _ Chloe?  _ In her words, this is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! Do I look like my IQ is negative?” 

The question was rhetorical and Nino knew her well enough to keep quiet until she was done. 

“ _ And!  _ Our beloved heroes scheduled a Ladyblog interview with me to announce their soulbond, literally less than 6 hours before these idiots told us about theirs! They think they’ve fooled me! Me! I have never felt so insulted in my entire life.” Alya sucked a breath between her teeth, nearly vibrating with energy.

“Feel better?” Nino asked, an affectionately amused expression on his face. 

She flipped him the bird but sighed, slumping her shoulders and releasing the tension from her body. “No. Yes.” Alya threw herself on her bed, “I hope they’re ready for me to make them absolutely miserable. I’m going to play them like the pair of fools they are.” 

Pasting on a dramatically innocent expression, she batted her eyes at Nino, “Marinette, what if Ladybug was in our class? A lot of the heroes have been, right?” She continued acting out scenarios, “Oh Adrien-You’re a big Ladybug fan right? Don’t you think Marinette’s pigtails are just spot on?”

“Dude!” Nino chuckled, “You can’t do that, Marinette’s blood pressure will kill her!”

“Wow guys, what a crazy coincidence that you both disappeared for the entire duration of that akuma attack and only returned well after it was over!” Alya forced a fake laugh to go with her sarcastic quip, before dissolving into genuine giggles. “I can, and I will! It’s what they deserve for thinking they could fool me like that!” 

-FIN-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap for Just a Shadow of Myself! Thanks so much everyone, I hope you all enjoyed it! :D


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